FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER - Gail Rachlin 212-501-8080, Erping Zhang 917-337-5877, Adam Montanaro 917-405-4507, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/
CHINA USES GAMES WIN TO JUSTIFY FALUN GONG CRACKDOWN
July 17 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - China's Vice-Premier has used Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games win as justification for the country's crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual [group].
State media reports Vice-Premier Li Lanqing made the comments at an anti-[Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted] exhibition in Beijing... The Vice-Premier has noted the winning of the 2008 Olympic bid is an example of the international recognition of China's social stability, economic progress and the healthy life of the Chinese people... He also says China should keep fighting against [Falun Gong].... Editor's note: Many spiritual groups, including the independent Catholic and Protestant churches in China are labeled '[Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]' by the state.
FALUN GONG WARNS OF POST-OLYMPIC BID CRACKDOWN
SYDNEY, July 17 (Reuters) - China's banned Falun Gong spiritual group has called for international scrutiny to ensure Beijing does not crack down harder on "undesirables" after winning a bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. "We hope that China will not see winning the Olympics as a license to kill," Falun Gong spokesman Erping Zhang... "History has shown us that the (Chinese president) Jiang Zemin regime has taken advantage of every major international event to silence all dissenting voices, and Falun Gong practitioners will most likely continue to bear the brunt of such political campaigns," the statement said.
HONG KONG SECURITY SECRETARY 'TOO BUSY' FOR DEBATE WITH FALUN GONG
July 16 (South China Morning Post) - Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee turned down an invitation to have a face-to-face debate with a leading local Falun Gong member in an open forum, it has emerged. She refused the invitation because she was very busy, her spokeswoman said. "Mrs Ip has definitely not been trying to avoid contact with Falun Gong, but she is booked up with appointments until September," she said. [Falun Gong] has long called for direct dialogue with senior officials, including Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa... But Thomas Crampton, a correspondent member and governor of the [Foreign Correspondents' Club], who is in charge of the forum, said Mrs Ip's office has snubbed the invitation deliberately. "Her office said the Government's position on the matter is clear enough so she would not be attending," he said. He said he had offered to change the date to suit Mrs Ip's schedule and asked whether another official from the Security Bureau could attend. But Mrs Ip's aides told him they would send him information outlining the Government position on the matter instead.
HONG KONG AN "ATMOSPHERE OF SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION"
New York, 7/17/2001 (Wall Street Journal) - Although Falun Gong is legal in Hong Kong, a campaign to eradicate the group in mainland China and recent verbal attacks by Hong Kong officials have combined to create "an atmosphere of social discrimination" against the group, Kan Hung-cheung told journalists Tuesday... Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa has echoed Beijing's characterization of the group as an "Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]." The local government also conducts surveillance of Falun Gong's activities, although it concedes the group has never broken any laws in Hong Kong. Human-rights groups and religious leaders say Hong Kong's handling of Falun Gong amounts to appeasement of Beijing and that it has damaged the rule of law in the city. Rev. Stephen Chan , a Catholic priest and member of the church's Justice and Peace Commission in Hong Kong, said [Regina Ip's] comments should attract the "concern of the whole society. The government is damaging the reputation of a group of people" who have broken no laws... Discrimination against the group has manifested itself in lost jobs for followers, refusal by hotels and malls to let them stage activities, and increasing scrutiny by police at Falun Gong's public demonstrations.
WALKING, BIKING, AND DRIVING TO SEND URGENT S.O.S. MESSAGE
International Campaign to Rescue Falun Gong practitioners Persecuted in China
THOUSANDS EXPECTED FOR RALLY IN D.C. 7/19. Falun Gong practitioners from all across the United States are walking, biking, driving and flying to Washington, D.C, where they will gather for a rally on July 19th and 20th . Groups from different parts of the U.S have been traveling hundreds of miles to draw attention to their campaign to rescue the Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted in China. The events in D.C. will mark the two-year anniversary of the persecution against Falun Gong in China. For more information, visit www.walktodc.org or www.fofg.org.
NEWS FROM CHINA
The Falun Dafa InfoCenter offers a weekly newsletter with updates and first-hand stories of the human rights abuses carried out by the PRC against practitioners of Falun Gong in China. This newsletter is available free on the Internet at www.faluninfo.net/hr_reports.asp, or send email to hrupdate@faluninfo.net. á
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER
- Contacts: Gail Rachlin 212-501-8080, Erping Zhang 917-337-5877, Adam Montanaro 917-405-4507, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/ á